Room 28 Busy with Passion Projects, Kingdoms and a Global Read Around

At the beginning of October we started our passion projects. We have to research something we are passionate about, for example, Afolabi is studying the planet Kepler 186f, Ivy is studying how basketball started, and Rhianna is studying how to have confidence.

In science we started learning about the five kingdoms, Monera, Fungi, Protista, Plants, and Animals. Here’s an example for monera: Streptococcus, and here’s one for protist: Trypanosoma. We also had a student come from the University of Manitoba WISE Kid-Netic Energy Program to teach us about Manitoba wildlife. First, we had to search for footprints around the room, and match the number on the footprint to the animal we thought made it. Next we had to put on gloves and use a special instrument to cut open an owl pellet. That is the parts of the animals an owl eats that the owl can’t digest (fur and bones). We were surprised that the pellet was so round. It kind of smelled bad, but inside it was interesting. Avin and Lior found a skull of a vole. We had to use a diagram to figure out which bones we found.

The Winnipeg Humane Society also came to visit our school. They showed us the different dog emotions and how they do behaviour assessments.

In writing we have been working on researching organisms that are threatened and endangered in Manitoba. We also started reading the book “All Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park and we did a google hangout with a school in Ottawa and a school in Chicago. They are also reading the book as part of the Global Read Aloud project.